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IAWA Minutes

by Al Myers, IAWA President

2016 IAWA Annual Meeting Minutes

The IAWA annual meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM at New York Fitness in Lebanon, PA on Friday, October 7th.  Roll call was taken and these members were attendance: Al Myers, Graham Saxton, Denny Habecker, Karen Gardner, George Dick, LaVerne Myers, Frank Ciavattone, Rocky Morrison, Art Montini, Dennis Mitchell, Timo Lauttamus, Kim Lydon, Peter Phillips, Steve Gardner, Dean Ross, and Mark Raymond. Roll call of the IAWA Vice Presidents was taken and these VP’s were not in attendance: Chad Ullom (US), Robin Lukosis (Australia), Cliff Harvey (New Zealand), and Jose Jara (Spain).

The first agenda item was reading of the 2015 IAWA minutes. IAWA General Secretary Frank Allen was not in attendance and had not delegated anyone to give the minutes on his behalf, thus no minutes were read.

The second agenda item was a report on the World Postal Championships by promoter Steve Gardner. Steve reported over 60 lifters competed representing 5 countries and felt the Postal Championships was very successful. Denny moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously.

The next report was given by myself, on the upcoming Gold Cup held in Abilene, Kansas. I reported that plans are coming along according to schedule and that close to 20 competitors were entered. Dean moved to accept report, with a second by LaVerne, and it passed unanimously.

Next up was the report from the IAWA Technical Committee Chairman Dennis Mitchell.  Dennis informed the membership that a new lift was being proposed, called the Reg Park Bench Press (2-barbell bench press).  The membership had many questions regarding the rules of the lift.  A prior written rule was written and approved by the USAWA, but Dennis did not have that with him. I had brought copies of the rules for the Reg Park Bench Press and passed them amongst the membership at this point which answered all of the questions. Dennis said that this lift had passed the Technical Committee review. However, at this point Technical Committee members Steve Gardner and Peter Phillips replied that they had not been informed of this new lift being proposed. Technical Committee member Denny Habecker remarked that he was not in favor of it because this lift would require 4 spotters for a proper handoff and could not be easily done in a competition.  At this point I declared to the membership that the whole purpose of the Technical Committee was to prior evaluate and vote on a new proposed lift before the meeting, and in this case this was not done properly.  I then dropped this from the agenda and no vote was taken by the membership.

Next up was a report on the 2017 IAWA World Championships, held in Perth Australia. Peter Phillips reported that plans are underway, with the tentative date set for September 30th-October 1st. Lifts proposed were: Day 1 – Cheat Curl, 1 Hand DB Snatch, 1 hand Vertical Bar Lift, and Feet in the air bench press. Day 2- 2″ bar Clean and Press, 1 hand Hack Lift, and 2″ Bar Straddle Lift. Peter said more details will follow later. Dean moved to accept report, with a second by Rocky, and it passed unanimously.

A report by the 2017 Gold Cup promoter George Dick was given next. George reported that the Gold Cup would be held in Glasgow, Scotland on November 4th in their new gym facility. Dean moved to accept with a second by Denny, and it passed unanimously.

There was no old or new business.

Elections of new officers was up next.  Elections in the IAWA happen every 4 years. A call to the membership was made if anyone wanted to run for any postion. There were no takers. A call was then made to the current officers if they wanted to run for another term.  Agreement to stand for their current positions was made by those officers present. Dean moved to retain the current officers of the IAWA for another term. A second was made by LaVerne and it passed unanimously.

Next agenda item was accepting bids for future IAWA Worlds and the Gold Cup. The IAWA schedule is booked up through 2018, so bids would have to be for 2019. I explained that I thought that 3 years in advance was a little too long as lots of things can change between the time putting in the bid and the actual competition. No official bids were made but Frank Ciavattone expressed interest in the 2019 Worlds and George Dick for the 2019 Gold Cups.

2016 World meet promoter Denny Habecker then gave some notifications as applied to the weekend’s competiton and the banquet.

At this time all agenda items had been covered, so Dean moved to adjourn. Frank made a second and it passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 8:30 PM.

2016 Meeting Minutes

by Al Myers, USAWA Secretary

The 2016 USAWA Annual Meeting was called to order by President Denny Habecker at 7:00 PM  Friday night on June 24th, 2016 at the residence of Frank Ciavattone in Walpole, MA.  Before the meeting Frank hosted the membership was appetizers and pizza so the meeting started with everyone on a full stomach. Roll call was taken and these USAWA members were in attendance: Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Jeff Ciavattone, Rocky Morrison, Chad Ullom, Dean Ross, Art Montini, Frank Ciavattone, Aidan Habecker, Judy Habecker, Bob Geib, Susan Sees,  James Morrison, Cassie Morrison, and Lindsey Beary. The minutes of the 2015 Annual Meeting were read by myself.  Bob moved to accept the minutes with a second by Chad and the minutes passed unanimously. I then gave the Financial Report which showed a $1000 loss for the USAWA for 2015, but I attributed that to the costs of the website redesign and the purchase of drug tests.  The drug tests will be carried over into the next year and the website costs should be amortized over the next 5 years at which time the website will need another redesign.  I pointed out that the bank account balance is exactly the same now as when I started as Treasurer in 2009. I also discussed the details of the 2016 budget which I prepared and was prior approved by the Executive Board. Dean moved to accept with a second by Chad and it passed unanimously.  I then gave the Directors Report as Website Director.   I described the changes made to the website and how it will allow further expansion and improve access speed. I encouraged others to participate in the website by contributing blog stories. Frank moved to accept,  it was seconded by Bob, and it passed unanimously.  I then gave the Awards Director report. A big part of the Awards Program is to give out the USAWA annual awards which are presented every year at the National Championships to recognize outstanding lifters and their accomplishments. Frank moved to accept, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously. As Records Director I gave the Records Report. I stated that our record list is now online for free download, and I try to update the list every 1-2 months. I encouraged others to let me know if errors are ever noticed as it is easy for me to correct them.  Frank moved to accept the report. Chad made a second and it passed unanimously.  Next up was the Officials Report by Official’s Director Joe Garcia.  Joe was not in attendance but had forwarded his report to me which I gave on his behalf.  Joe encouraged others to join our Official’s ranks and take the rules test.  He also encouraged rulebook training for the current officials, that could take place as a clinic or training sessions before meets. Dean moved to accept, a second was made by Rocky, and it passed unanimously.  Chad Ullom gave the Drug Testing Report as Drug Enforcement Director.  He stated that we are continuing with an aggressive drug testing program that tests at many meets throughout the year.  No positive tests were found during the previous year. Judy moved to accept the report with a second by Dean.  It passed unanimously.  Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker gave the Postal Meet Report. Denny stated that 15 lifters competed in our Postal Series in 2015, with 6 lifters doing all of them. He encouraged more participation.  It was mentioned that we now allow lifters to do the postal lifts on any individual day during the 3 month quarter instead of just in the last month like it has been in the past. Chad moved to accept the report, a second was given by Dean, and it passed unanimously. The next agenda item was a report by the IAWA Technical Committee Chairman Dennis Mitchell regarding issues being discussed by the IAWA Technical Committee.  Dennis was not in attendance so no report was given. The next item was discussion and vote on a new proposed lift by Bill Clark, the Reg Park Bench Press (2 bar bench press).  The rules of the lift were preapproved by the USAWA Executive Board as required by our rules, and had passed the Executive Board’s approval prior to being presented.  The written rule was read to the membership.  The lift involves bench pressing two barbells according to the rules of the Bench Press.  There was minimal discussion on the proposed lift.  A vote was taken and it passed by majority vote with 10 yes votes and 3 no votes. As required by USAWA rules for a new USAWA approved lift a vote was taken to propose this new USAWA lift for IAWA approval.  This passed by majority vote with 11 for, and 2 against.  It will be forwarded to the IAWA Technical Committee Chairman to officially present it to the IAWA.  Next agenda item was the presentation of rule changes. I presented a listing of several items that were presented to me over the previous year for additions/changes to our rule book. Below is the list:

  • Add 2” vb and 2” plates to Bearhug rules
  • Change finger lifts rules in regards to ring and height to be in compliance with IAWA(UK) rules
  • Add to III Drug Testing: “The Lifter will be notified no more than 48 hours prior to the test, and must make arrangements for the test to be performed within 48 hours.”
  • Add to bar specs: Max diameter of bar 1.25”.
  • Add to VIII: “It is recommended not to publically announce an event before the sanction is officiated. Announcing an event prior to proper sanction may result in failure of meet sanction.”
  • Add to section on drawing of lots: “It is recommended that if lots are not drawn that the order of lifting be done by age, with order of lifting set from youngest lifter to oldest lifter.”
  • Add to calling to the platform: “The clock begins when the announcer declares that the bar is loaded”
  • Add to General Rules: “Regulation bars are to be used for all lifts unless stated otherwise in the individual rules of the lift.”
  •  Thors Hammer:  The Vertical bar used must by 18” in length with a 1/2″ tolerance (instead of max 18”)
  • Fulton Bar: Change minimum diameter to 1.9”  (instead of 1-15/16”).

Chad moved to accept these rulebook changes with a second by Art.  There was no discussion and the vote was unanimous in favor.  I then presented a couple of bylaw changes. These were the proposed changes:

Add to Article 7 Election

“In lieu of the elections a motion may be made to retain all current officers and executive board members in their current positions. This motion must pass by majority vote.”

“Each executive board position must be elected and voted on individually.”

Chad moved to accept the changes, with a second by Dean.  There was no discussion.  Amendments/changes to bylaws require a 2/3 vote. A vote was taken and the vote was unanimous in favor.  Next order of business was New Business.  Art brought up a discussion of limiting Record Day meets or individual lifts for records after meets to be limited to 5 records maximum.  He explained that he has always only allowed 5 lifts for record at his record day meet and that he feels that is enough.  Discussion afterwards was all in favor of this.  It seems most lifters are getting tired of lifters using record days to set large number of records with submaximal effort to just set and pad their record count.  Also included in this was discussion of how these lifters interfere with the lifting of others at record days because of the extra loading and judging they require beyond everyone else. Art then moved to make this a new rule and it was seconded by Dean, and passed unanimously. Frank brought up the 6 week advance meet sanction time that our rules now require and how he would like to see it decreased.  Frank stated that with his club of young lifters he often doesn’t know their schedule that far in advance and setting meet dates for everyone to be able to attend is difficult.  I explained to the membership why the 6 week sanction deadline was put into place to start with: 1. to allow anyone ample opportunity to be able to attend if they wanted, ie get an airline ticket if needed, 2. allow the Executive Board time to review the sanction request, 3. To make our event schedule and sanction process look legitimate by not allowing last minute meets to take place.  A compromise was reached and Frank moved to decrease the sanction deadline to 30 days. Jeff gave a second and it passed unanimously. Judy then brought up her concerns regarding entry deadlines on meet entry forms not being enforced.  She explained how this really causes issues for meet directors who need to be able to plan for the number of lifters that attend with t-shirt and awards purchases.  I explained how I feel this needs to be the meet directors responsibilty and a meet director should be able to refuse lifters that do not enter by the deadline if they want, with full support of the USAWA.  I proposed that we add a line to the rulebook stating,”If meet directors refuse entry because of a lifter not entering by the stated entry deadline on the entry form, the USAWA will support this decision and no appeal can be made.” Judy moved to include this statement in the rulebook, a second was made by Dean, and it passed with unanimous vote.  There was no other new business. The next agenda item was accepting bids for the 2017 USAWA National Championships. Bob Geib made a bid to host next years National Championships in Vermillion, Ohio on one of the last two weekends in June, the traditional time for Nationals.  There were no other bids.  A vote was taken to accept Bob’s bid and it passed unanimously. At this time the meeting agenda was completed, and Chad made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Dean and it passed unanimously.  The meeting ended at 8:30 PM.

 

Minutes from 2015 National Meeting

by Al Myers, USAWA Secretary

MINUTES FROM 2015 USAWA ANNUAL NATIONAL MEETING

The meeting of the 2015 Annual National Meeting was called to order by USAWA President Denny Habecker at 6:15 PM at York Barbell in York, PA. Roll call was taken and these USAWA members were in attendance: Denny Habecker, Dennis Mitchell, Al Myers, Barry Bryan, Bob Geib, Susan Sees, John McKean, Art Montini, Randy Smith, Eric Todd, Frank Ciavattone, and James Fuller. Minutes were read from the 2014 Meeting by USAWA Secretary Al Myers and the Financial Report was given by USAWA Treasurer Al Myers.  The Financial Report showed a positive revenue for the USAWA for the past year.  Bob Geib moved to accept these reports, a second made by Eric Todd, and they passed unanimously.  The Directors reports were given next.  Al Myers, the website director, reported on the website progress and the update to the new website.  Al Myers, the awards director, reported on how the budget money for the awards program is spent, with most of it going to the annual USAWA awards. Records Director Al Myers reported on how the Records List is now available online on the website with the intentions of having an updated list on the website every 1-2 months. The Drug Enforcement Director Chad Ullom was not in attendance but had given his report to Al Myers to give on his behalf.  20 Drug tests were administered over the previous year at numerous meets with no positive tests.  The Official Director Joe Garcia was not in attendance and no official report was given.  The Postal Meet Director Denny Habecker reported on the USAWA postal program and encouraged more participation.  The IAWA Technical Committee Dennis Mitchell gave a report on the IAWA Technical Committee.  No activity was reported during the previous year.  There was no New Business to discuss.  Bids for the 2016 USAWA Nationals was next on the agenda. Frank Ciavattone made a bid to host the event at his place, and it passed unanimously.  Bob Geib expressed interest in hosting the 2017 USAWA Nationals at his place in Vermillion, Ohio.  Membership discussion supported this.   Election of officers was next: President – Denny Habecker, Vice President Chad Ullom, Secretary/Treasurer Al Myers, At Large Executive Board Member Dennis Mitchell, and At Large Executive Board Member Frank Ciavattone were elected. Eric Todd moved to adjourn the meeting, with a second by Art Montini.  The motion passed unanimously.  The meeting lasted 25 minutes.

IAWA Annual Meeting

by Steve Gardner

A brief run down on business at the 2014 IAWA Council Meeting…..

2014 IAWA Council Meeting – 8pm Friday 26th September – Norwood, Massachusetts USA

Members Present: Frank Ciavattone, Colleen Lane, Dave Ellis, Frank Ciavattone Jr., John Mahon, Sam Trew, George Dick, Denny Habecker, Paula Thompson, Art Montini, Steve Gardner, Chris Bass, Frank Allen, Dick Durante, Judy Habecker, Janet Dick, Chad Ullom, Dennis Mitchell, Flossy Mitchell, Al Myers, Steve Sherwood, Paul Dallalis, Karen Gardner

Minutes of the 2013 Meeting: IAWA General Secretary Frank Allen took the meeting through the minutes from last year’s AGM. All agreed they were a true and accurate record.

Confirmation of International Vice Presidents: All current International Vice Presidents for England, USA and Scotland remained in position. Confirmation for Australia was received as: Robin Lukosious and Peter Phillips, New Zealand as Cliff Harvey and Spain as Jose Jara.

Rule Change / Addition: On safety grounds, IAWA Technical Committee proposed that the rules for the Shoulder Drop be amended to allow the lifter to bend the legs during the lift, giving the lifter a safer position to catch the weight. After discussion amendment accepted!

New Lift for Approval: The Domal Squat had been proposed by Aqeel Afzal and supported by IAWA UK and the Technical Committee. After further discussion the lift was accepted. (the lift is: one arm locked out overhead with barbell, kettlebell or dumbbell, the lifter then performs a full squat!) Rules of performance and full description of the lift will be circulated!

IAWA International Development: Steve Gardner reported to the meeting that two Nations are currently getting organised as full IAWA Member Nations: New Zealand and Spain. Both Countries have already organised their initial board of officers and are working on establishing officials etc as we speak. This is great news for the development of all round weightlifting in IAWA. More details will be circulated at a later date!

A report on the 2014 World Postal Competition: The Meet Director for the World Postal Steve Gardner informed the meeting that the event had been an overwhelming success, with 32 teams representing 8 Nations taking part, 78 Individual lifters in all, and including Juniors Open and Master lifters from the Men’s and Women’s Divisions. All present agreed the event should take place again in 2015, lifts will be 3 from the 2015 IAWA Worlds!

An Update on the World Championships for 2015: The event to be promoted by David McFadzean will take place on weekend of 10th /11th October at the Castlemilk Community Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The lifts Proposed were – Day One: Clean & Push Press, Cont. Snatch, Pullover & Press, One Hand Deadlift – Day Two: One Hand Zercher, Dumbbell and Barbell Anyhow, Straddle Deadlift. All details of venue date and the lifts were agreed!

An update on the IAWA Gold Cup for 2015: John Mahon and Sam Trew will be promoting the Gold Cup in Perth, Australia on Friday November 27th at the Belmont Recreational Centre. There will also be a Highland Games event next day – all agreed venue and date!

Finalisation of Agreement of IAWA Gold Cup 2016: Al Myers will promote this event in Kansas USA!

Finalisations of Agreement of World Championships 2016: Clive Madge will be the promoter of this event which will take place on the North Island near to the Capital City of Wellington!

Applications for Promotion of IAWA International Events
IAWA World Championships 2017: Application from Mark Haydock for Manchester, England was accepted!
IAWA Gold Cup 2017: Application from George Dick for Glasgow, Scotland was accepted!

A proposal for Wheelchair Disability All Round Weightlifting within IAWA: A presentation was put to the meeting by Paul Dallalis. After discussion the meeting agreed that Paul will look further into the matter over the next 12 months to see what can be achieved, Al Myers proposed that Paul liaise with another lifter in the US and report back at the next IAWA Council meeting. All agreed.

2014 Meeting Minutes

by Al Myers

The 2014 Meeting of the USAWA was called to order by USAWA President Denny Habecker at 6:00 PM at the Salvation Army Gym in Macomb, Illinois on June 20th.  Roll call was taken with these USAWA members in attendance: Denny Habecker, Al Myers, Art Montini, Dean Ross, Randy Smith,  Helen Kahn,Tim Piper, Mike Murdock, Dennis Mitchell, Eric Todd, Logan Kressly, and Lance Foster.  Al Myers, USAWA Secretary, read the 2013 minutes in an abbreviated form as they were 5 pages long.  Dean moved to accept the minutes, Randy gave a second, and it passed unanimously. The Treasurer’s report was given next by USAWA Treasurer Al Myers which included a summary which showed a yearly profit for the USAWA over the past year.  The budget which was approved at a prior time by the Executive Board was explained. Dennis moved to accept, Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously. The special directors reports were next on the agenda.  The Website Director, Al Myers, gave a report on the success of the website over the past year, and how it now contains over 1300 blogs and all the meet results from the past 5 years plus much USAWA historical information.  Randy moved to accept, Tim gave a second, and it passed unanimously.  The Awards Director, Al Myers, then gave a report of the USAWA Awards Program.  He explained how the USAWA budget money of $750 is used to buy the yearly awards and the special awards, given on behalf of the USAWA.  Tim moved to accept the report, Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously. The Official’s report was next on the agenda.  Since the Official’s Director Joe Garcia was not in attendance, and he had not given a report to anyone to give on his behalf in advance, no report was given.  The Drug Enforcement Director’s Report was next.  Chad Ullom, the Drug Enforcement Director, was not in attendance but the report was given by Al Myers who does all the duties for this position anyways.  Al explained that the USAWA does testing at over half the USAWA competitions, and just recently purchased more testing kits.   He stated our drug testing is more extensive now than ever before in the history of the organization. Eric moved to accept the report, with a second by Dean, and it passed unanimously. The next agenda topic was the official appointment of a new Records Director and Postal Meet Director.  Since the last USAWA meeting Records Director Joe Garcia and Postal Meet Director John Wilmot have resigned.  The Executive Board had appointed Al Myers as the Record Director and Denny Habecker as the Postal Meet Director to act in an interim basis for these positions during this past year until official appointments could be made.  Dean moved to appoint Al Myers as the Record Director and Denny Habecker as the Postal Meet Director, with a second given quickly by Randy. There was no discussion.  The motion passed unanimously. Next up was the discussion and vote on two new proposed lifts. The first lift discussed was the Thor’s Hammer, a lift proposed by Thom Van Vleck as an OTSM lift in the USAWA.  The written rule by Thom Van Vleck was read to the group, and discussion ensued. Most seemed confused and dazed by the way the rule was written.  Many questions arose that were not addressed in the written rule as presented.  Most were in agreement that the lift, as verbally described and performed at Thom’s recent OTSM meet, was a very good lift, but the presented written rule had way too much fluff and not enough technical details. It seemed at this point that the lift was going to be rejected on this issue, but Al Myers moved that he would rewrite the rule with specific technical details, and once it met the Executive Boards approval, would be accepted as a new USAWA lift. Dean gave a second, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and it passed unanimously.  Al then moved that prior records set at Thom’s OTSM meet in the Thor’s Hammer be accepted as USAWA records retroactively. Tim gave a second, and it passed with majority vote.  Mike Murdock was the lone no vote, and Randy abstained from voting. The next new lift, the Kennedy Lift proposed by Al Myers, was next presented.  Al read the written rule that he wrote for the Kennedy Lift, that was performed at the Dino Challenge in January as an exhibition lift.  There was no discussion or questions on any aspects of the written rule,  Dean moved to accept it, Eric gave the second, and it passed unanimously.  Eric moved to accept prior records set in the Kennedy Lift at the Dino Challenge, Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously.  The next agenda item was the discussion and vote on rulebook changes.  Al read a list of changes that have been brought up during the prior year, which included: 1. allow knee bend in the shoulder drop, 2. matters of appeal should be presented to the secretary in writing who will then present the issue to the executive board for a vote to be decided by majority, 3. allow the chain to touch the body in the teeth lift but not be supporting the weight, 4.  for the Anderson Squat, rules of the squat apply to bar position on the back, 5. Remove the rulebook wording of allowing rosin as this is often confused with tacky, 6. Add “if a lifter fails at an attempt, the lifter may call for the same weight on the next attempt”.  Discussion centered around the proposed rule change on the shoulder drop. The question was asked who proposed this rule change, and Al responded that it was requested by Thom Van Vleck, which brought laughs from several in the group.   Arguments in favor were given to include the safety issues of having the knees bend.  Since Thom was not in attendance and could not support his argument to the group, Al explained that having the legs straight can make the lift dangerous, as he had witnessed Chad have a near death experience doing the shoulder drop at Thom’s place  with straight legs. Al then mentioned that this whole Chad catastrophe was filmed and is now on YouTube.   Arguments against included causing a deviation away from the written IAWA(UK) rule which also requires straight legs. Denny moved to accept all the proposed changes, with the exception of the shoulder drop change which would be presented to the IAWA Technical Committee to be discussed and voted on.  Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously.  The last agenda item was asking for bids for the 2015 USAWA Nationals.  Denny stated that York Barbell has expressed an interest of us hosting a meet there  next year in conjunction with their strength extravaganza.  Denny had presented this to the EB prior and had full support on this bid.  Al moved to accept this bid, with Denny acting as the meet director.  Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously.  At this point our allotted time was done in the meeting room.  Dennis moved that the meeting be adjourned, Dean gave a second, and it passed unanimously.   The meeting ended at 7:00 PM.

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